By TREVOR WAHUNE, The National PNG
A 46-YEAR-OLD man who raped his daughter for 12 years was jailed for 80 years on Friday.

And Justice Panuel Mogish said: “I wish you turn 126 years old in prison, if you are lucky enough to live that long. You have been raping your daughter since she was six.

“It’s a horrendous, heinous and an evil crime. Such sexual acts inflicted by a father on his daughter is a gross betrayal of the sacred paternal bond.
“Sexual predators like you who preyed on the flesh of their own daughter is most despicable and inhumane. Sick human beings like you should be ostracised from decent communities and, peace and law-abiding citizens.
“They should be banished from human society and made to live in a community of uncivilised animals.”

Justice Mogish lamented that he was worried that such cases were becoming prevalent in local societies. The man from Galeole in Talasea, West New Britain, pleaded guilty to raping his daughter when she was six in 2004 until she was 18 in April 2016.

The rapes were committed in Morobe and West New Britain where the family lived before moving to Port Moresby. The father was on remand at Bomana for two and a half years.

Justice Mogish said: “I agree with the State to not place much weight on the guilty plea as it was belated.”
The aggravating factors were:

• The victim was only six when she was sexually violated and was as young as 10 when she was sexually penetrated and that continued until she was 16;
• For over 12 years, the father felt no guilt and continued raping his daughter;
• There was a huge difference of 26 years between the father and daughter. She was six and he was 32;
• The father had prior conviction of assaulting his wife and was jailed for six months in Lae in 2007; and
• The father was violent towards his daughter and other relatives.

“Respect for the dignity of our womenfolk has diminished because of people who treat women as sex objects rather than as human beings who have the same rights and opportunities as men,” Justice Mogish said.
The victim said in a statement: “Every daughter is her father’s pride. Unfortunately for me, it was the opposite. It saddens me to see girls getting along well with their fathers.

“It was not easy to absolve everything that happened because I lost my virginity to someone I did not love, but to my father. That’s very painful and it will haunt me for the rest of my life.

“My family has never been the same as before. We face hard times and always had arguments. The rapes caused disharmony.

“I feel torn apart and had thought of doing things I am not supposed to, but it was my mother’s courage and encouragement that gave me strength to pursue life and education. I initially dreamt of becoming a geologist but all was shattered because I couldn’t concentrate on my studies as I was constantly disturbed. I missed many classes to attend interviews.”

Justice Mogish told the man that “your daughter sees you as a monster. The sentence must serve as a deterrent to all.”